ESSA WBTM WR 51 · ESSA Technical·· Memorandurtl WBTMWR;,5l U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE · ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE SERVICES ADMINISTRATION Weather Bureau ·Western Region Sea State an·d Surf: :-:... , 1 Forecaster S Manual l 1 ! -. ~-="'-~·'--- ":"--.--.-:..:::;.-'---~::::...:_.-;·,:;:.~: ! i i GORDON' C. SHIELDS . AND GERALD B. BURDWELL I $" ,": . =~ w:~tern Region .· .. i . SALT L,AKE CIT~ ..· LJTAH July, 19.70 U. S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE SERVICES ADMINISTRATION WEATHER BUREAU Weather Bureau Technical Memorandum WR-51 WESTERN REGION SEA STATE AND SURF FORECASTER'S MANUAL Gordon C. Shields Marine Meteorologist WBFO, Los Angeles, California Gerald B. Burdwell Advisory Marine Meteorologist WBO, Newpo~t, Oregon WESTERN REGION TECHNICAL MEMORANDUM NO. 51 SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH JULY 1970 TABLE OF CONTENTS ,;.. List of Figures and Table and Appendix iii -iv Preface v Introduction 1-3 II Selecting a Sea State Forecast Technique 3-4 Ill Definition of Common Terms 4-8 IV Fundamental Equations 9-10 v General Forecast Procedure 10-19 Wind Speed in the Fetch 12 Minimum Fetch vs. Minimum Duration 13 Wind Duration 13-15 Decay Nomograms and Sea State Worksheet 15-16 The Breaker Forecast 16-17 The Bar Prob I em 18-19 VI Forecast Examples 20-21 Forecast fot the Golden Gate 20 Columbia River Bar Forecast with Stable Swel Is 20-21 Columbia River Bar Forecast with Wind Waves 21 VI I Southern California Sea State Forecasts 22-24 Swel Is and Breakers from a Winter Storm 22-23 Swells from the Southern Hemisphere 23-24 VIll Acknowledgment 24 :.) IX References 24 i i LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLE AND APPENDIX Figure I Water Wave Spectrum (With Comparative Energy Distribution in Arbitrary Units} 25 Figure 2 Breaker Types 26 Figure 3 Surface Wind Scale 27 Figure 4 Wave Development Within a Fetch 28 Figure 5 Deep Water Wave Forecasting Curves as a Function of Wind Speed, Fetch Length, and Wind Duration 29 Figure 5A Deep Water Wave Forecasting Curves as a Function of Wind Speed, Fetch Length, and Wind Duration 30 Figure 6 Sea and Swel I Worksheet 31 Figure 7 Decay Curves 32 Figure 8 Travel Time of Swel I 33 Figure 9 Surf Forecast Worksheet 34 Figure 10 Graph for Determining the Deep Water Wave Steepness Index 35 Figure II Graph for Determining the Breaker Height Index 36 Figure 12 Breaker Height Index 37 Figure 13 Graph for Determining the Breaker Type 38 Figure 14 Graph for Determining the Breaker Depth Index 39 Figure 15 Breaker Depth Lndex 40 Figure 16 Graph for Determining the Width of the Surf Zone 41 Figure 17 Graph for Determining the Breaker Wave Length 42 Figure 18 Number of Lines of Surf as a Function of Width of Surf Zone and Breaker Wave Length 43 Figure 19 Ratio of Depth of Breaking to Deep Water Wave Length as a Function of Depth of Breaking and Wave Period 44 Figure 20 Graph for Determining the Coefficient of Refraction Kd and the Breaker Angle ab 45 Figure 21 Breaker Height (Hb) Corrected for Refraction as a Function of Coefficient of Refraction (Kd) and Uncorrected Breaker He i gb.t CHb) 46 iii LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLE AND APPENDIX (CONTINUED) Figure 22 Nomogram for Determining the Speed of the Longshore Current 47 Figure 23 Change in Wave Height in an Opposing or Following Current 48 Figure 24 Sea State Chart 49 Figure 25 Surface Chart ISOOZ 7 February 1960 50 Figure 26 Surface Chart OOOOZ 8 February 1960 51 Figure 27 Surface Chart 1200Z 8 February 1960 52 Figure 28 Surface Chart OOOOZ 9 February 1960 53 Figure 29 Surface Chart OOOOZ 3 December 1969 54 Figure 30 Columbia River Stable Swell 55 Figure 31 Surface Chart 0600Z 23 November 1969 56 Figure 32 Surface Chart 0600Z 2 December 1969 57 Figure 33 Sea and Swel I Worksheet 58 Figure 34 Surf Forecast Worksheet 59 Figure 35 Southern Hemisphere Surface Chart OOOOZ 13 July 1969 60 Figure 36 Southern Hemisphere Surface Chart OOOOZ 14 J~ly 1969 61 Figure 37 Sea and Swel I Worksheet 62 Figure 38 Surf Forecast Worksheet 63 Table I Southern California's Major Beaches with Beach Orientation and Exposure Windows 64 APPENDlX Great Circle Paths Converging at Strait of Juan De Fuca 65 Great Circle Paths Converging at The Golden Gate 66 Great Circle Paths Converging at San Diego 67 Southern Hemisphere Great Circle Paths Converging at San Diego 68 iv PREFACE This manua I is intended as a ready reference for operati ona I techniques of wind wave, swel I and breaker forecasting. No attempt is made to advance new concepts or present mathema­ tical developments. Neither is any one wave forecasting sys­ tem claimed to be superibr to any other. Indeed it is the difficulty of defining the wind wave generating parameters that introduces differences between the various diagnostic and forecasting techniques. Given a wei !-defined wind field, differences in forecasts made using the various wave spectra and forecast schemes would be wei I within the I imits of obser­ vational accuracy. The physics of wind wave generation is very complex, with many unknowns, and with much of the theory yet to be developed. Mathematical solution of wind wave generation must, as yet, be approached through a series of approximations and simp I ify­ ing assumptions. To satisfy marine operational requirements, it wi II be assumed that when winds blow over an appropriate fetch water waves wlll appear and propagate. Water waves constitute a large domain ranging from capi I lary waves, with periods in fractions of a second, up through diurnal tides with periods of approximately 24 hours. Long period atmospheric or storm induced ocean waves may have periods measured in days or even weeks. This manual wi I I present a stereotyped technique for predicting wind generated waves and as such wi I I concentrate on a narrow band of the water wave spectrum. v WESTERN REGION SEA STATE AND SURF FORECASTER'S MANUAL I. INTRODUCTION Geographical and climatological conditions divide the west coast of the United States into three separate sea state and surf regimes-- !) Strait of Juan de Fuca to Cape Mendocino, 2) Cape Mendocino to Point Conception, and 3) Point Conception to Mexican border. However, a common requirement for the entire coast is an open ocean and coastal waters sea state forecast. While source regions of waves affecting different portions of the Pacific Coast vary radically, basic scienti­ fic concepts and mechanics of open water sea and swel I forecasting are universal. Dictated by both air and water temperature, aquatic acti­ vity in the sea-land interaction area or "surf zone" varies markedly with changes in geographical area. It is this changing uti I ization of the marine environment, coupled with the geographical orientation of the coast! ine that divides the west coast surf or breaker forecast requirement into the three natural zones, each with its own distinc­ tive problems. Techniques for forecasti~g breaker heights are also universal but bottom contours and beach or bar orientation must be specifically defined for each forecast point. Tidal currents must be given consideration when computing wave and breaker. heights in many areas. From the Strait of Juan de Fuca southward to Cape Mendocino the north­ south oriented coast! ine is subject to wind waves or swel Is generated by storms traveling over mid and northern latitudes of the north Paci­ fic Ocean. Smal I craft harbors of refuge are some distance apart and frequent heavy seas make coastal water sea state forecasts of vital concern. The primary user requirement of the "surf zone" forecast is for a description of waves or breakers over an offshore bar, along a breakwater or at a channel entrance, with only minor interest in beach breakers. Wave or breaker conditions over a bar are frequently criti­ cal for alI types of watercraft. From the seaward side a mariner looks at the smooth back side of waves breaking over a bar. This deception may lui I him into attempting a bar traverse through heavy breaking waves that were not apparent from the seaward side. Smal I boats may be swamped in this narrow band of heavy breaking seas with safe water only a few hundred feet away, both inside and outside the bar or breaker zone. These same seas may be sufficiently high as to cause a deep draft vessel to hit bottom while in a wave trough over the bar. There have been reports of medium and heavy tonnage vessels striking bottom while in heavy seas over the Columbia River bar where the channel is main­ tained at a minimum depth of 48 feet below mean lower low water. Tidal currents strongly affect marine safety at many harbor entrances. A strong ebb tide current at a narrow harbor entrance wil I increase the height and steepness of incoming waves while shortening the wave­ length. This combination of evenis may quickly produce an unstable breaking wave. In heavy seas this breaking wave takes the more hazard­ ous form of a plunging breaker, which in the extreme may approach a tidal bore. Conversely during a flood tide incoming waves and tidal current tend to move in the same direction. This results in increased wave length, lower wave height, lower wave steepness, and generally flatter seas. Thus a harbor entrance that was navigable during slack and flood tide may become impassable during ebb ti~e. Along the Oregon­ Washington coast navigable bays and estuaries are typically large rela­ tive to the width and depth of their respective channels. This results in strong tidal currents which tend to induce unstable or.breaking waves as wei I as compounding the problem by contributing material to build and maintain offshore bars.